Terminal strip feed mechanisms for terminal insertion machines usually include a feed finger that engages a strip of terminals and, under the operation of an actuator, advances the strip to bring the next terminal into position in a workstation for inserting the terminal into a plastic housing. During operation of the machine, the feed finger, on its return stroke, may tend to cause the strip of terminals to backup along the feed track so that the terminal in the workstation becomes misaligned. To prevent this, an anti-backup finger or friction drag mechanism is usually arranged to engage the strip of terminals and allow movement of the strip in the direction of feed only. When loading a fresh strip of terminals into the machine the operator must disable the anti-backup finger, insert the strip until it is picked up by the feed finger, and then enable the anti-backup finger again for normal operation of the machine. When it is desired to remove a strip of terminals from the machine, both the feed finger and the anti-backup finger must be disabled so that the strip can be pulled out of the machine in a direction opposite that of the feed direction. This usually takes a certain amount of dexterity on the operator's part, requiring the use of both hands, and is sometimes quite inconvenient.
What is needed is a terminal strip feed device having a release mechanism that will engage and disengage both the feed finger and the anti-backup finger, as needed to load or remove a strip of terminals, that is operable by the operator using a single hand. Additionally, the release mechanism should be relatively simple to use and inexpensive to manufacture and maintain.